In the time that I've been exploring the
world of cameras, I have never seen hype
around any camera like what happened with
the Fujifilm X100 Mark
V, or X100V if you prefer.
And even if I wanted to follow up on that
hype and try it out for myself, it was
basically impossible to get your hands on
one, even to the point where people were
selling used copies for more than the new
ones were going for.
The demand was so high
that they could do that.
So when Fujifilm announced the newer X100
Mark VI, I really wanted to try and get
my hands on it and see
what all the hype was about.
And now that I've got it in hand, it's
time to take it for a spin.
When I think of the Fujifilm X100 series,
the first thing that comes to
my mind is street photography.
So the first place that I went was
downtown Victoria, to
Canada's oldest Chinatown.
The X100 series are great street
photography cameras partially because of
their compact and discreet form factor.
We've got a fixed lens system that has a
23mm f2 lens on an APS-C sized sensor.
So we get about 35mm full frame
equivalent, which if you're going to have
a fixed prime lens, I would argue that's
a decent focal length to have.
It's got a really cool rangefinder system
that allows you to use the viewfinder
either as an optical viewfinder or you
can switch it to be an
electronic viewfinder.
So if you're really looking for the vibe
of shooting with a film camera, you can
keep it in OVF mode and have that
experience with a custom overlay as well.
It's also got a built in 4 stop ND filter
that you can turn on and off as you need.
We saw this in the previous version as
well and it's really handy, especially if
you're shooting video with this camera.
The buttons and dials are actually quite
well thought out and extensive,
especially for such a compact camera.
The shutter speed and ISO dial is unique
compared to a lot of cameras that we see
nowadays, but you can also choose to
customize the dials to function more like
other cameras if you prefer.
Of course, being a Fujifilm camera, we
have a ton of different film simulations
to choose from that apply
directly to your JPEG photo.
So a lot of people actually like to use
this camera to shoot JPEGs.
And if you're really keen on getting the
look that you want directly in camera,
you can really get in there and customize
the settings and save your own presets or
as people refer to them recipes so that
ideally there is minimal to
no editing after you shoot.
I borrowed a recipe from a friend and the
results were really solid.
But everything that I've mentioned so far
is stuff that was all
available on the Mark 5.
So let's talk about
what's new with the Mark 6.
The Mark 6 might look almost exactly like
the Mark 5 on the outside, but there are
a bunch of upgrades that have
happened inside this camera.
First of which being the new sensor that
they put in this thing with a 40.2
megapixel resolution as compared to the
26 megapixels on the previous one.
Not only is this great just because
you've got more resolution, but also it
gives the option for different digital
cropping to give you different focal
lengths right in camera.
So you've got three different options
where it is a 35 millimeter full frame
equivalent, a 50
millimeter and a 70 millimeter.
Now, of course, that is cropping into
those megapixels that you have.
So you're going to get
reduced resolution as you zoom in.
They've also got the newest X
processor inside this camera.
So you're going to get better handling of
those 40 megapixel files.
The whole system definitely is a little
bit snappier than previous cameras.
And on top of that, it handles auto focus
better and they've given us the new A.I.
subject detect functions that they've
been adding into their
newer cameras as well.
We've also got one new film simulation in
this camera that we haven't seen in other
ones called Reala Ace.
And one thing that they added into this
camera that kind of blows my mind because
they've already got a built in ND filter
in there is they added
six stop IBIS into this.
So you can do better
handheld both for video and photo.
Other compact cameras have claimed that
they either had to have a built in ND or
they had to have IBIS because it was too
hard to fit in both into a small body.
But somehow Fujifilm managed to do it.
Unfortunately, you can't expect the IBIS
to do any miracles while
walking or anything like that.
But for static handheld shots or kind of
panning and tilting shots, it does a
great job getting rid of all the little
micro jitters that you might have.
So having shot with the X100 Mark VI for
a couple of weeks now
and played around with it.
Here's what I liked and what I didn't.
Firstly, in the category of things that I
liked about this camera, it doesn't take
long at all to get the cool factor, the
vibe out of this camera.
It feels a little bit more like you're
shooting on a film camera.
And with the emergence of film becoming
more popular again, that's definitely
something that I think
people are seeking right now.
But you've still got all of those
conveniences of it being a really fully
functioned digital camera.
In my test, I was really happy with the
image quality and that 40 megapixel
sensor and the lens on the front of this.
There was a little bit of purple fringing
here and there, especially when I was
shooting in super bright conditions.
But for the most part, I
thought it looked great.
I pretty much shot RAW and JPEG the
entire time that I had this camera so
that I would have the option of seeing
the film simulations, but still have the
extra control of the RAW files.
And just on a whim, I opened them in
Capture One, the RAW files, and I found
out that Capture One will automatically
read which film simulation you used when
you were shooting it and
apply it in the software.
They've got all of them, even the new
one, the Reala Ace one, and they are so
accurate from the RAW files to the JPEGs.
So if you're a Fujifilm shooter, you
might want to consider looking at Capture
One if you want the kind of extra
flexibility of shooting RAW,
but you want to have those film
simulations as an option.
I know Lightroom has some of them, but
definitely not the
whole list like Capture One.
I really liked having the internal ND.
It's so nice to just be able to click a
button and have four
stops of ND in there.
The layout of the buttons and the dials
on this camera are really user friendly.
I found it no problem to get set up and
get going right on day one when I went
down to Chinatown there.
And I'm definitely not
used to this system at all.
So I think that's a double thumbs up for
me on the layout and the
user friendliness of it.
So now let's talk about the things that I
didn't like so much.
Funny enough, the first thing that I
would say I didn't like about this camera
is that fixed focal length single lens.
Like you've only got the one option.
You're kind of shooting
the same thing all the time.
This can be a really cool exercise to
limit yourself and see what you can do.
Zoom with your feet as a lot of people
will say, but it's also really limiting.
So if you're out there actually trying to
get a specific shot, you just might be
missing out on certain things.
Now, full disclosure, I
am 100% a zoom lens guy.
I pretty much always have been, and I
really prefer to have the options while
I'm out and about to be able to get
different perspectives.
So the novelty of having a single fixed
focal length wore off
pretty quick for me.
There were times when I wanted to get a
certain shot, but if I was to zoom with
my feet and walk up for it,
I then had a completely different
perspective and I wasn't getting the
leading lines the way that I wanted them.
Or there was something
else that was now in the way.
It just wasn't going to
work out for that shot.
But for now, moving on to the next thing
that I wasn't a huge fan of, and that is
the complication of the recipes.
I love photo editing.
Part of the process for me
is the editing afterwards.
So if you're anything like that, it might
kind of have a kind of excitement at
first when you're
trying to figure it all out.
But for me, it wore off really quickly.
I found myself spending a lot of time
trying to get what was
right for the situation.
It's hard to see on
the back of the screen.
It just doesn't line up with the reason
that I'm out there shooting photos.
And if you want to shoot with a tripod on
this camera and you need to
put a plate on the bottom,
get ready for that to completely block
your access to the battery and SD card,
which are both in the same
compartment on the bottom.
Again, not the hugest deal in the world,
but it is kind of annoying to have to
fully take off your tripod plate if you
want to get at the
battery or your SD card.
So here's the thing.
In the end, this camera really isn't for
me, but it doesn't have to be.
So it got me thinking with all the pros
and cons, all the things that I liked or
didn't like and other
people might love or not love,
who is this camera really for?
So first of all, would I recommend this
camera for beginners?
And the answer is no.
For a lot of beginners, it's probably too
expensive of a camera.
It comes in at $1600 US dollars.
It's very limiting with that single focal
length, which can be a
good exercise for a beginner.
But you can also do that by just leaving
your lens on a single focal length or
getting a prime lens for your
interchangeable lens camera.
And thirdly, if this is the first real
camera that you're going to buy, there's
really nowhere to grow in this system.
You then have to buy a totally different
camera that you can
buy lenses for and such.
It doesn't feel like a
beginner camera to me.
The second possible use case is for kind
of an everyday camera, something that you
can capture moments with your family or
your dogs or your kids or whatever kind
of things that you might
do on an everyday basis.
And again, probably not for most people.
Keep that in mind for most people.
And the reasons
there, again, are similar.
It's very limiting with
that single focal length.
In everyday life, things happen really
quickly and you might want to capture
something far away or you might want to
capture something wide.
If you've got a family group together,
you might need a wide angle lens to make
sure you can get everybody in the shot.
Thinking about the kinds of people who
want to capture those moments.
I don't want them to have that kind of
limitation of only 35
millimeters and that's it.
The exception to this, of course, is if
you're already a photographer, you have a
bunch of gear, you know your way around
photos and you want something that looks
really nice, but for your everyday use.
Then, of course, being who I am, I had to
ask myself, is this a decent vlogging or
content creation camera?
They've got some pretty
great video features on there.
But then you run into the problem that
it's got no flip screen and
it's the 35 millimeters again.
So it's definitely not wide enough for a
lot of situations that you would find
yourself making content in.
So, nope, not for that.
So how about as a main
camera for a pro photographer?
And mostly that's a no as well.
Street photographers is where maybe this
one lines up a little bit better.
Again, that's kind of where my brain goes
when I think about this focal length and
this kind of camera.
But generally, if we were thinking of
this as like a main camera for a
photographer, I'd say probably not.
I'm sure the comment section is going to
have a lot of fun with this one.
So after all of that, who do I actually
think this camera is for?
It's for people who pretty much have all
the camera gear that they
could possibly want already.
And they want something else that
challenges them, something that they can
take out that's nice and light.
But when it comes down to shooting
something that they're unsure of or they
need flexibility, they've
got other options already.
In my mind, this is an alternative to the
film camera that people sometimes would
throw in their camera bag alongside all
of their other gear because it was a fun
and challenging thing to shoot with.
This is just the newer
digital version of that.
So this brings me to my point of why I
think this camera got so much hype.
If you think about who those people are,
a lot of them are photography influencers
or creators or professionals who want a
little bit of a challenge.
They want to play around
with something new and fun.
Those are the people with these big
voices who are influencing
the rest of the camera world.
And they're saying, wow, I have so much
fun with this camera.
It's so great.
And it is a great camera.
Like it's fully featured.
It's got lots going on with it.
But it's those kinds of people who were
saying how great it was
and how much fun it was.
And then the rest of the world just kind
of picked up on that, took what they were
saying and started buying it up.
And it's not to say that all of those
people made a mistake by buying it.
Maybe they also really enjoyed it too and
had a lot of fun with it.
But functionally, there are so many other
cameras out there that I think are better
for so many people that this shouldn't be
sold out everywhere all the
time, if that makes sense.
So basically, this is a great camera.
Don't buy it.